Hinckley Challenge

So I got an e-mail today and it really inspired me to not only participate, but post it on my blog so others could participate. This is what part of the e-mail said.

"President Hinckley often stressed our making the Book of Mormon part of our lives. He was 97 when he passed away, and we would like to celebrate his life and teachings by reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days."

It think this is something we would all love to do but maybe take it for granted. I think it's the least we can do to honor our dear prophet and everything he has done for our church. Please pass this along if you find it to be worth your time. I thought it was a great idea.

For more information go to http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/ and create a user name and password. You can update your progress and it will keep you on track with how many pages you should be reading per day!

President Gordon B. Hinckley on the Book of Mormon
"I take in my hand the Book of Mormon. I read its words. I have read Joseph Smith's explanation of how it came to be. To the unbelieving it is a story difficult to accept, and critics for generations have worn out their lives writing books intended to refute that story and to offer other explanations than the one given by Joseph the Prophet. But to the open-minded, this critical writing has only stimulated them to dig deeper; and the more deeply they dig, the greater the accumulation of evidence for the validity of Joseph Smith's story. Still, as has been demonstrated for a hundred and fifty years, the truth of the Book of Mormon will not be determined by literary analysis or by scientific research, although these continue to be reassuring. The truth about the origins of the Book of Mormon will be determined today and tomorrow, as it has been throughout the yesterdays, by reading the book in a spirit of reverence and respect and prayer."( "Praise to the Man," Ensign, Aug. 1983, 4)

Hail to the Prophet Ascended to Heaven!

I have been kind of dreading this day for a long time. President Hinkley has been the prophet for much of my life. He has been there throughout my teenage years and early 20's as I have been figuring out who I am and strengthening my testimony of this gospel. I loved and looked forward to the times he would speak and would always pay close attention to his words taking them to heart. He was such a sweet old man. He was such an amazing prophet and did so many great things for our church. I will greatly miss his smiling face and inspiring words. I will miss the humorous talks at conference. I am however so happy for him as he is reunited with his sweet wife. So in memory of President Gordon Bitner Hinckley...

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great purpose in heart." -President Gordon B. Hinckley

BULGARIA!!! 2006

There were posters of us all over Bulgaria. People would literally chase our bus to get "One last look" Or a wave out the window. We seriously felt like celebrities. Signing autographs... getting recognized. It was crazy. Kim and I decided to pose like we were cool...
This is a beautiful waterfall up in the mountains of Chipalari. Gorgeous.
In the streets of Bulgaria. The whole town came to our show. We performed right in the middle of town in the street.

Kim and Brad...
Eating dinner... Lots of Bread and salad. It was actually pretty good food. I was nervous!
This meal was interesting. It was cooked in that big pan thing in a brick oven. It had a lot of goat cheese and veggies... I was really hungry though so I sucked it up.
Kim and I being nerdy.
We got suck in New York for 2 days because it was raining so bad they wouldn't let any planes fly out. We hadn't slept in like three days and we were all exhausted. We slept on the nasty tile in the middle of the JFK airport because they wouldn't let us check in to sleep on the carpet by our gate because it was too early. It was horrible. I can't even explain it. But a good story now... We all bought i love NY shirts and washed our hair in the sinks- We didn't even have tooth brushes because our luggage had already been checked. We felt really gross but much better on this morning after getting all cleaned up. We finally arrived in Salt Lake late that night after a quick plane change in Georgia and a lot of crying!!

These are some of my cute little Bulgarian orphans! I love and miss them!
Jess and Kim showing off the rings we handed out to the orphans.
Yeah so this pic is a little gross but this is seriously the way we had to use the potty!
Girl power outside our amazing hotel in Chipilari...

Me Kim and Jess before a show.

All my little orphans.
Brad Kim and Josh in the streets of Bulgaria! Beautiful!
These people danced for us. When we arrived they had bread and honey for us. It's Bulgarian tradition to bake bread for your guests and hand it out at the first greeting. They were so cute! We sang for them and they cried. After we did a show in the streets.
posing greek style in an actual stadium.
Our cute tour guide. He went everywhere with us. I miss him sooooo much!

So I went to Bulgaria summer of 2006 and have not posted any pictures of it. So I decided to post some belated pictures of my Amazing Bulgaria Synergy Tour. SO Enjoy! I sure did!! As you can see I'm not in a lot of these pics because I took an actual video camera so all my pictures are on there, but it's broken right now so I will post those later!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

So if you have read my sisters blogs, you can probably tell that we are the biggest daddy's girls in the world... But we probably have the most amazing daddy in the world so it shouldn't be a big shock that we love and adore him so much.

Daddy...

I don't even know where to start. I am a 21 year old who has to call you at LEAST three times a day. All my friends know you are pretty much the #1 man in my life. I can't make a decision without consulting you first, and I KNOW I can always depend on you to be there for me when I need you. It all began about 22 years ago when you decided you wanted another baby and nine months later here I came! I was yours from the very beginning. You bathed me, changed me and took care of me while mom cut hair. We bonded from the start and that bond has and will always continue to grow. It's so amazing to look back and remember every important moment in my life and to remember you standing right there being my #1 fan. EVERY Clayton performance, every game, every hard decision- You were right there. Thank you so much for providing me with the most amazing childhood. You never let me go without even when I was so selfish and just kept asking for more. I don't know how you did it. I was pretty spoiled. You have ALWAYS been there for me and have always known how to handle me. Even when you knew what the right choice for me when I presented you with a tough situation, you have always let me figure it out on my own. You never yelled or called me stupid or said "What are you thinking even considering that!" You were always very supportive and gave me great advice telling me you would support me either way. You have raised me to be a pretty strong girl daddy. I know without a doubt I would not be the person I am today with out you. I don't know what I would do without you! Probably be in a mental institution somewhere. I can't wait until my children are able to meet you and have the blessing of having you as their grandfather. So thank you daddy. And I hope you have an amazing birthday. Just know that you will be surrounded by so many people that love and adore you.

Your baby girl... Nick

A weekend in Vegas...

Naked baby

Long trip back to Utah for Christmas

So I went down to vegas to go to the vegas bowl. I spent the weekend with Cody and Kath. I went shopping with Cody for some last minute presents, went to In and Out, and enjoyed the amazing BYU football game! It was a great weekend. I took pictures but as you can see most of them are of my baby Brookie! We had tons of fun!!!

Vegas Bowl! Go Cougs!!

Nicki, Eric, BK, Ashlyn being cold at the game.
Nicki and Kath
Nicki and Nate. He cheers for BYU!

So I really wanted to go to the Vegas Bowl this year, and I had an opportunity to get a ticket from Nate, but I didn't have any one to go with and didn't have a way to get down there so I turned it down. I was so sad! But one day (During finals) I was talking to Kath and she was telling me how they were deciding weither to come home for Christmas on Friday or wait and go to the Vegas bowl and then come home Sunday. I started crying about how bad I wanted to go. She then gave me the greatest news! BK had an extra ticket and was planning on driving down on Friday!! I called him and he said I could go! I was so happy! The game was amazing! I was cheering loud for BYU! I guess dating a BYU Cheerleader gives you cougar pride. I never thought I would be a BYU fan! I was very wrong!! They won even though I was scared there at the end! Go Cougs!

Cheesecake Factory Here We Come!

I love that cheeser grin...

We finally did it. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory today! Sienna had a great time. She liked the pasta her daddy got and the chicken from Staci and I's Teryaki Chicken but hated the rice. She LOVE LOVE LOVED the cheesecake. I just love that little Cheeser girl! I can't get enough of her!